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Saturday, June 7, 2014

#AlamoDriveHappy

Disclosure: I am not working with a company to promote anyone or thing in this post. I did, however, receive a nice package from a blogger friend who is, so I wanted to share (of my own free will).

When you're taking a car trip this summer, the one thing you want to make sure you have covered if children are coming along too, is entertainment. There are only so many times the kiddos can play 'I Spy' or Tic-Tac-Toe without getting bored, and when that time comes, you have to be ready (trust me on this one). ;)

Fun things really do come in small packages!

One thing we always bring with us is the Kindle. It's slim and light, making it easy to bring along, and you can download books that are age-appropriate. My son has picture books on his, and my daughter has been known to pick up the Kindle and read it from the time we start our trip, until the moment we arrive!

Remember how fun instant pictures were with Polaroid?
Who knew you could still do that??? Totally happy we'll be taking instant pictures this summer on our road trips. :)

Another great idea is to bring along an instant camera!! Do you remember how fun Polaroid cameras were when you were a kid? I remember being very impatient, waiting for the film to clear so I could see the picture I took...but it was a fun impatient. My kids have never seen, or to my knowledge, heard of a Polaroid. They're going to get to know one now! How fun to document a road trip from a Polaroid/Kid perspective!

Mess-Free Crayons won't color on skin or car upholstery!

Mess-Free crayons (and I stress 'mess-free') by Crayola, are fantastic to bring along for the little ones because they won't color on skin, furniture (or in this case the car), or fabric. They also come in a cool mini stow & go with a pad of paper (keeping everything in one place and easily portable). I don't know a little one who doesn't like to color, and this is a nice surprise for a driving trip.

Don't forget to pack a little something nice for the older kids/teens too.
They still like to special little treats, even if they are almost grown. ;)

Speaking of surprises, my daughter is a teen so she's a little old for crayons (well, maybe not because I catch her playing with them from time to time, but you know what I mean). I don't ever forget she's still a kid though, and I always make sure to pack a little something that will make her happy too. Alamo put a pretty wire and bead bracelet in their travel pail, and that's just the perfect thing for my daughter to slip on to make her happy. And it's a physical reminder to her too, that her mama thinks she's pretty awesome. :) There's also colored duct tape in the pail, and my daughter is a wiz with that stuff. Her oldest brother got her a book on things to create with it for a gift last year, and if you haven't already seen such things, you'd be amazed at what you can make with duct tape (wearable flip-flops have to be my favorite thing in that book).

Just a little preparation shows that good things really can come in small packages...small packages that keep our children very happily entertained on long car trips. For the parents and the kids, that's a win-win. Thank you, Alamo!

Check out Alamo for all of your car rental needs. You can find their website here, and follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter.

That's a bunch of really neat stuff. Sure would've come in handy on those long Georgia to Maryland trips we used to make when our kids were growing up. I used to make all kinds of homemade games to keep them occupied. (Like weird car-bound scavenger hunts, with prizes.) The best way to handle it, though, was to drive overnight, with all of them sleeping in the back of the station wagon.

Road trips with children can be taxing on both children and parents. This bundle of things to bring is a great idea, a neat way to keep them preoccupied so you don't have to listen to; "Are we there yet?" for the next 3 hundred and 47 miles. :D

What fun. And the mess free crayons are a brilliant invention. Though mind you, I had a heap of fun when Santa gave me bath crayons one year. I spent much of the very hot day in the bath drawing ocean scenes - on the bath of course.

No kids to travel with but I totally remember road trips with friends and their kids and my dog! I definitely could have used some of these things-of course they probably were not even invented back then--except for the Poloroid camera of course!

All I know is I rented from Alamo for the first time, and I have my own car, and it was a great experience! We picked the Suburban up in Disneyland and drove it all over So. California. They made everything very easy!thanks,MItch

I have a teen as well! And, I agree even tho they aren't children anymore, they still enjoy playing child toys/activities every once in a while, especially during long rides. With that said, we have an instant camera and LOVE it! It's always a big hit when friends come over or the kids have a teen night. I totally love looking at those images. They are so young and carefree. I hope they never change :)

We just rented a vehicle and went on a trip this past weekend. This would have definitely kept our kiddos entertained. We brought one of our car tvs that actually kept them entertained for quite a while.

I think the kids would LOVE this kit! That Polaroid, for sure, they'd be like - WOW!!! I haven't seen one in years! My grandparents had one and pulled it out every chance they got. Kids now a days would think it's a novel idea.

We always bring books & coloring books with crayons. My oldest daughter she brings her loom bands to make bracelets, those make her happy. We normally drive at night though, so they will sleep the whole time, haha.